


Toil & Trouble

by eyesandarrows



Series: The Lost Boys meet The Weird Sisters [2]
Category: The Lost Boys (Movies)
Genre: 1980s, Blood and Violence, Everyone Needs A Hug, Familiars, Heavy Angst, I'm Bad At Tagging, Mild Language, Movie: Lost Boys (1987), Multi, Mystery, Original Character(s), Past Character Death, Past Relationship(s), Polyamory, Santa Carla (Lost Boys), Serial Killers, Something Wicked sequel, Vampires, Witches, but it's not the vampires, yet another shameless OC insert
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-12-27
Updated: 2021-03-08
Packaged: 2021-03-11 01:27:29
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 3
Words: 5,122
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28296762
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/eyesandarrows/pseuds/eyesandarrows
Summary: In The Weird Sister's coven, there must always be 3.
Series: The Lost Boys meet The Weird Sisters [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2072604
Kudos: 4





	1. V of Cups

**Author's Note:**

> *If you haven't read my other fic 'Something Wicked', this definitely won't make any sense*
> 
> Taking place in the time skip between chapters 19 and 20 of Something Wicked, this is the story of what The Lost Boys got up to in the time that they waited for October's next lifetime.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Grief

Santa Carla, 1987 

_October watched upside as Jess hefted the leather bound book up in her arms and closed her eyes. She recognized the book for what it was as well. A malleus maleficarum, and from the way the lights flickered and how the house shook; it was a real one._

_Whispers echoed around the room as the spell resumed._

_This might actually kill me, she thought to herself._

_“You can’t do this! Please, stop!” she cried out, writhing in agony._

_Black ichor welled up along the deep gashes on her arms and her eyes rolled back in pain._

_No...it can’t end like this. I can’t lose the boys again. I just got them back…_

_“YES! It’s working!” Maud exclaimed in triumph as she dropped the effigy and held out her hands. “Your magic is mine.”_

_The inky black ichor trickled down October’s arms, pulled in Maud’s direction like a magnet. Rivulets of ink stretch up, up into the air, detaching from her body completely and reaching for Maud’s awaiting fingertips… before it splattered against the dirty basement floor._

_Maud blinked in confusion. “Jessica, what just hap-”_

_The little girl no longer held the malleus maleficarum. Instead, in her small hands she clutched an effigy that looked exactly like Maud._

_“I’m sorry, sister, but you brought this on yourself. May Hecate have mercy on your soul.”_

_October and Maud looked on in horror as Jessica reared back her arm and sent the effigy into the cement wall where it shattered on impact._

_October's passed out to the sound of her sister’s screams._

+++

**A few days later…**

Jessica Sanford had known she couldn’t simply return to her life as though nothing had changed. Although, on the other hand, a spell to dissuade her parents suspicions and they were none the wiser as to their twelve year old daughter’s recent nocturnal outings. Still, there were others out there she knew would not let her escape back into a semblance of normalcy so easily. And on the fourth night they finally came for her…

Night had fallen moments ago as Jess put away the last clean dish from dinner. The entire meal her parents had needled at her to start preparing for school to start again. 

“I hope you enjoyed your summer sweetie, because with school starting next week, things are going to have to change around here,” her mom informed her between bites. 

Jess rolled her eyes. 

Now that she could use her magic, school was going to be a cake-walk from there on. 

And besides, school was the last thing she was worried about after everything that had gone down at her sisters beach house. 

“I think we need to revisit your curfew too, Jess,” her father shot her a meaningful look. 

Jess groaned, earning an amused chuckle out of her parents, the sound expected from their budding teenage daughter. In reality, however, Jess was not looking forward to having to use more magic on her parents on the occasional night that would inevitably sneak out. She hated having to do that mostly because it ruined the illusion that she was just trying to maintain a normal childhood. 

“Sounds great,” she said sarcastically. 

Her unfortunate tone led to dish duty that night and the entire time she spent scrubbing the dishes, she couldn’t help glancing out of the kitchen window into the swiftly darkening yard. 

The pit in her stomach grew exponentially as the sun finally extinguished. 

Apparently her anxiety was totally justified because when she went up to her bedroom for the night, the room was not empty as she expected it to be. The bedroom light was already on and the four of them were spread around the room like they owned the place. After the initial shock passed, Jess quietly closed the door behind her and muttered a spell to keep her parents from barging in. 

Jess picked out the leader of the tribe quickly. David. He was the one her sister’s lackey, Max, had regarded as highly important. She looked him and the eye, bracing herself, and asked him “Are you here to kill me?” 

He narrowed his eyes at her, obviously calculating his reply, which she didn’t understand why he was biding his time at all if he was indeed there to kill her. 

“Depends,” he said, his tone impassive. 

She raised a brow. “On?”

“You’re going to tell us what the fuck happened.”

One of them spoke up, their words playful sounding, but the look in their eyes promising chaos. “Yeah, you left the party so fast, we didn’t get a chance to chat...” 

Jess remained pressed against her bedroom door, trying to keep as much distance between as she physically could. She weighed her options quickly. Yes, they had the advantage of speed, but she had the benefit of unpredictability. While they knew what her sister, October, had been capable of, her magic was just the tip of the iceberg. 

She grit her teeth. “What did you do with my sister’s bodies?” 

“We burned the widow to a crisp and threw the husk in the ocean,” the dark haired one bragged spitefully. 

She nodded thoughtfully, not willing to give away her true thoughts. “And October?” 

The leader shook his head slowly without breaking eye contact. 

“What. Happened.” He was no longer asking. 

She swallowed nervously despite the fact that she knew she had the upper hand. 

“First of all, I want to apologize for everything Maude, and by extension, me, put you through. It probably doesn’t mean much to you, but I need you to understand that I was literally her puppet.” 

“She was controlling _you_?” one of the blondes asked dubiously.

“Yes. No.” She huffed in frustration. “For the most part she was. I was able to defy her in some ways which is how I was able to send October to the moment of your collective murder.” 

That bit of information piqued their attention. “That was you?” the leader asked. 

Her mouth twitched nearly curving into a smirk. “Yeah. That was me. You’re welcome, I suppose.” 

An renewed air of suspicion settled amongst the vampires. “Why?” 

She frowned. Why had she sent October through time? The question made her hesitate. 

“It was…” she hesitated, worried the boys wouldn’t believe her innocence. “It was Maude’s idea to involve October at all. I had hoped that they would be able to work out their problems with each other.” 

She sighed and took a short moment to gauge their responses. Just as she feared, there was not a touch of sympathy between them. Only quickly growing disdain and thinning patience.

“But what she really wanted was October’s magic. She knew the process of taking it away from her would kill October so in the end she would get power and her revenge at the same time. It was a two-fer.”

A shudder ran through all four of them simultaneously and she knew their patience had finally run out. 

“Then what happened?” David snapped. “Did they kill each other? What the fuck were _you_ doing?” 

She glared at him as tears began to sting her eyes. How dare he speak to her like she didn’t just lose everything, _everyone_ , she cared about. She just lost her entire family and he thinks he can come into her home and interrogate her? How fucking rude.

“I stopped the widow. I killed my own sister after I watched her murder October. Is that what you wanted to hear, asshole? If you’re not here to kill me then get the fuck out of my house. **Now**.” 

A coldness washed over David as he drew himself up. She met his sharp gaze dead on, unblinking. The others straightened up as well and she sensed the conversation coming to end. About goddamn time.

“If you want to say goodbye to October, be at Hudson's bluff in an hour.” 

+++

Jessica was seriously getting tired of sneaking out after curfew. And by sneaking out, she really meant placing her parents under a temporary sleep spell. This time, however, she felt justified. 

On the dot, she arrived at Hudson’s bluff accompanied by a deep well of grief as she instantly zeroed in on the loose dirt of a freshly dug grave in front of where the vampires were lined up. 

As she slowly approached she began to notice other details, like how they had clearly outlined the grave with candles that refused to stay lit on the gusty cliffside. The set up was a bit… off... to be appropriate for a funeral or a wake, she thought. No, there was more an air of... necromancy.

She stopped at the foot of her sister’s grave right as it occurred to her why David had been merciful so far. 

“Bring her back.” 

She blinked at him in disbelief. “What?” 

The curly blonde, elaborated. “We know you can raise the dead, so bring her back.” 

They stared at her expectantly. 

_Shit,_ she cursed inwardly. _They are never going to forgive for this._

She nodded solemnly to herself and the boys mistook this gesture as her agreement.

"I need some room to work," she said, avoiding eye contact and she fixed her gaze on the outlined grave. 

The boys backed off a short ways away and she only hoped it would be far enough to give her time for what she needed to do. 

Outstretching her arms so her hands hovered over the grave, she lifted with her magic and the body buried below was pulled from the earth.

The boys held their breath as Jessica suspended October's body, wrapped delicately in a sheet, in the air. But something didn't feel quite right. This wasn't the same manner that David, Dwayne, and Paul witnessed when October herself had performed the same spell. 

She snapped her fingers and the shrouded corpse burst into cobalt blue flames. 

“What the hell are you doing?!” The boys shouted in outrage.

In the fire light, they could see the tears streaming down the little girl's face. She backed away a step, preparing herself for the possibility of the vampires attacking. She really hoped they didn’t. The last thing she wanted was to hurt them. 

"I'm so sorry. But I can't bring her back. I can’t leave her body here either because it’s not even supposed to exist in the time period."

The tall blond snarled. "WHAT DO YOU MEAN YOU CAN'T BRING HER BACK?!"

She wrapped her arms around herself and sniffled. "When a witch dies, they die. A new cycle is supposed to begin. I don't have the power to bring her back now."

Goddess, this whole thing was her fault. She was going to have to carry this guilt forever and live with the consequences whatever they may be. Hecate was sure to deal out her punishment in time. 

The tall blond raged, "That is bullshit! We're just supposed to wait until she reincarnated or whatever?" 

"If she reincarnates at all," she said softly.

She winced. Part of her wished she could have been introduced to her sister’s soulmates under more wholesome circumstances. It felt like all she did since she met them was ruin their lives. 

"What do you mean _if_?" the dark haired one growled. 

The brilliant blue flames cast an eerie glow over the five of them as it consumed her sister’s corpse. David, still as a statue, hadn’t looked away from the quickly disappearing body once. She found it difficult to watch his grim expression for too long especially with the angry and accusing hostility his brothers aimed her way. 

She swiped at her watery eyes and forced herself to face them. "Because of the spell that killed her, she might not be able to." 

"How will we know for sure?" David surprised her by speaking up. He watched her out of the corner of his eye, the blue flames throwing ominous shadows across his features. 

Resisting the urge to shudder, she chewed on the inside of her lip, thinking. There was one way...but it was a long shot.

"I can set a sort of magical alarm that will be set off when she comes into her power. I'm sorry but that's all I can promise. Although…” She paused as another idea formed in her mind.  
“How about I owe you one favor. Doesn’t matter how big or impossible it is. My magic is at your disposal for exactly one time. No expiration date.” 

David raised a skeptical brow. “So you’ll grant us one wish if we ask?” 

She might be imagining things, but she sensed a hint of amusement in his voice to which she huffed and placed her hands on her hips. Regardless, she recognized the olive branch he was graciously extending to her. 

She rolled her eyes playfully. “I’m not your fucking fairy godmother. It’s a _favor_. And a generous one at that. We’ll call it a ‘Get Out of Jail Free Card’. I suggest you use it wisely.”


	2. III of Wands

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Seeking Direction.

**They didn’t even have a body to bury.**

The thought assaulted David as the last of October’s ashes scattered with the wind. 

Not even bones were left. It was as though she had never existed.

“She wasn’t even supposed to exist in this era. I had to erase all traces of her,” Jess had explained right before she conjured an hourglass and handed it to Marko, earning herself a few confused glances. 

The fact that she had magically created an _hourglass_ of all things out of thin air wasn’t the strangest thing about the object. What was actually strange was how the sand remained stuck in the top chamber despite… well, _gravity_. 

“The sand will start falling as soon as my sister’s soul returns to this earthly plane,” she revealed with a thoughtful expression. 

Dwayne raised a questioning brow. “And when the sand runs out?” 

The others shifted uneasily at the foreboding question. 

Her expression closed up and she shrugged. “You’ll be reunited. Or you won’t.” 

She vanished from their sight before they could demand a better explanation and regardless of numerous questions that arose in light of everything, David was left haunted by the singular thought that they wouldn’t even have a grave to visit and honor the one they lost. 

Instead, what they did have was the magically resurrected, underground hotel October had gifted them that they called home and it would have to suffice. 

For the next few weeks they would carry the stagnant hourglass around the hotel from room to room so that it was always in sight of at least one of them. It became second nature to look for the hourglass out of the corner of their eyes ever so often just to make sure the sand hadn’t moved since they looked away from the last time they searched for the slightest sign the sand had moved. 

Eventually weeks added up to months and still the sand remained frozen in the hourglass and it was slowly driving all of them mad until finally they permanently retired the hourglass to the front desk in the lobby where they would only have to see it when they were passing through. 

For the most part, they resumed living their lives before October had fallen into their circle. Only this time, they were truly free. No more Max to dictate where they could and couldn’t go. No more widow Johnson to bully them into submission. Santa Carla was theirs alone to enjoy. Even though it was technically the off-season for tourists, there were still the locals to terrorize and the coming winter holiday tourists to look forward to.

Life was good. So it seemed. 

+++

 _...esterday another victim was discovered slain by who the people have named “The Tarot Killer”. Federal authorities are warning people on the west coast to brace themselves for when the killer strikes next…_

David caught the tail end of the reporter's dulcet tone as he was passing by the open door of October’s room and a moment later Dwayne emerged from said room. The blond paused, sensing his second in command had something he wanted to talk about, and turned to face him. Dwayne fixed him with a steely stare, all business. 

“Do you think we should be worried?” 

David raised a brow. “About ‘The Tarot Killer’ from the news?” He tucked his hands into his pockets, the gesture casual and unconcerned. 

A line appeared between Dwayne’s brows. “Sounds witchy to me.” 

David’s gaze darted away. “Maybe. Maybe not.” 

“Whoever it is, _whatever_ it is, I’ve got the feeling they’re heading this way.” 

David’s eyes cut to his second but before he could reply, Paul’s voice rang out in their heads. 

_Guys? Um, I think someone misplaced the...kitchen???_

Simultaneously, David and Dwayne rolled their eyes. 

_Paul, man, you’re high as fuck. Go to sleep._ David thought back to the other blond.

 _Uh, actually, the kitchen is...gone._ Marko interrupted. 

Dwayne and David shared dubious looks. 

_What do you mean …gone?_

Suddenly, the light scones in the hallway flickered in warning and a moment later Marko and Paul were rushing down the hallway towards them. 

“Dude was that a ghost?” Paul shouted.

“Are we being haunted again?” Marko asked frantically. 

David held up a commanding hand as though he could hold back the rising tide of panic in the two blonds. 

“What. Did. You. Mean. Gone,” he demanded through grit teeth. 

Marko and Paul huddled closer together as the flicking lights became more intense. 

Paul clutched onto Marko’s sleeve. “Dude, the kitchen is not where it’s supposed to be? Like, the door is completely gone. Even Marko couldn’t find it and he’s totally sober! The wall is totally blank!” 

David glanced at Marko who was more preoccupied with the frenetic blinking lights. 

“Should we be worried about that?” the curly blond asked worriedly. 

David opened his mouth to answer, though he wasn’t entirely sure what he was going to say, when suddenly every door lining the hallway started to slam shut one by one. 

“I thought October exorcised all the ghosts,” Dwayne muttered in frustration as he tried the handle to October’s old room. The door did not budge. 

David felt his anxiety rise. 

“I don’t think this is ghosts,” he said. “This feels like something else.” 

The four vampires gathered closer together in the middle of the hallway. 

The lights flared brightly for a long moment before they extinguished completely, leaving the boys in total darkness that even their supernatural sight couldn’t see in and then they felt the ground beneath their feet begin to quake. 

“Oh fuck! Not again!” It sounded like Paul who yelped. 

In the distance there was a horrible crashing sound like stone falling and cracking. David held onto the others, hoping against hope that the hotel wasn’t collapsing around them, burying them underground once again. 

The pandemonium ceased as quickly as it started and everything fell silent. David blinked rapidly as the lights blinked back on. Paul, Marko, and Dwayne appeared equally taken aback as they peered around, seeking the destruction they had heard. 

A horrible realisation struck David like a bolt of lightning that had him sprinting to the lobby. 

He stopped short at the threshold. It was here that he discovered where the destruction was. The lobby was just as it was after the first earthquake. A cave, rather than the lobby of a grand resort. 

The others quickly caught up to him. 

“Whoa!” Paul exclaimed, gazing out at the cave. 

They each jumped down to where the floor had sunken and drifted through the familiar rubble. Everything had fallen just as it had all those years ago. Their little decorations had even returned to where they’d been placed before October’s spell tidied the space up. 

“It’s just like how it used to be,” Dwayne pointed out. 

“Before October’s spell,” Marko agreed.

His heart in his throat, David looked towards where the front desk should have been and now lied in pieces. 

Marko followed their leader’s gaze. “The hourglass!” he gasped. 

David stooped to pick up the hourglass and straightened up as he inspected the delicate glass for any damage. He breathed a sigh of relief when he found no such damage. The sand inside didn’t appear to have shifted at all either. 

He shoved the hourglass into Marko’s arms much to the shorter man’s surprise and immediately headed for the cave entrance. 

“Boss?” Paul called after him in confusion. 

Dwayne was quick to fall in step with David. “What just happened?” 

“Nothing good.” David cast him a sidelong glance as he made his way up the rickety stairs outside. 

He itched for a cigarette to calm his rattled nerves but he didn’t have time if he wanted to get to where he was heading and back before the sun came up. Even though the hourglass was fine, he still felt on the edge of a precipice. He didn’t even want to consider just how close they had come to losing the one thing that linked them to October. 

They completely bypassed where their bikes were parked and took to the air.

_I think it’s time to call in that favor a certain witch owes us._


	3. V of Swords

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Deception

“Once again, I must remind you, it is a _school_ night,” Jess complained loudly to an unamused Dwayne and even more so apathetic David. 

Dwayne resisted the urge to roll his eyes as he led the young girl down the wooden stairs leading to the cave entrance. 

“And once again, _I must_ remind _you_ that you owe us a favor. Now it’s time to pay up,” David groused.

Jess harrumphed, her expression twisting with annoyance.

 _Boss, you made the witch pout,_ Dwayne shared the now amused thought. 

_Good._ David smirked and proceeded to shoulder-check the small witch as he sidestepped her, earning himself a wicked glare.

Marko and Paul perked up as the group made their way into the cave entrance. They were huddled by the once again broken fountain, the hourglass set carefully atop the collection of souvenirs and other treasures littering the floor of said fountain. 

“Oh good you brought the witch,” Paul blurted out in lieu of greeting. 

Dwayne shot him a warning look which was promptly ignored.

Jess sniffed indignantly. “I have a name, thank you.” 

Paul shrugged indifferently. “Okay?” 

Marko snickered from where he stood at his friend’s side. 

Jessica spared him a withering glare that lasted seconds before she was already moving to observe the enormous cavern. She nodded thoughtfully. 

“Mhmm. I see exactly what your problem is,” she said. 

David perked up at that from where he perched on a bit of rubble. “Really? And what might that be?” 

She cocked her head and glanced at him from the corner of her eye. “You guys live in a shithole,” was her deadpan response. “Can I go now?” 

Marko clutched at imaginary pearls and gasped. “Such language for a little girl!” 

“Fuck off.” 

She ignored the two boys and their guffaws of laughter as she peered closer at the shadowy cracks in the cavern walls with some interest.

David seized the opportunity to explain. “What you’re standing in used to be Santa Carla’s hottest resort until the big quake sent it into the ground.”

“Literally,” Marko chimed in. 

David raised a brow in warning at Marko before continuing, “October cast some kind of spell to restore the place to its original grandeur.” 

Jess nodded in understanding. “I see what’s happening here. Now that she’s gone, her spell is coming apart at the seams.” She cast another sweeping gaze around the cave. 

Dwayne wondered what she was seeing that they were missing. 

“Can you fix it?” David asked her bluntly. 

Jess snorted. “Of course. What kind of hack do you take me for?” 

“Oh good, and here I was beginning to think we were wasting our ‘get out of jail free card’,” Paul laughed. 

Jess folded her arms across her chest. “You’ll need to vacate the premises for a couple hours.” 

Dwayne mirrored her by crossing his arms. “Hours? October’s spell worked instantaneously when she cast it.” 

Jess’s expression became searching as she studied each of them. “I was under the impression that you wanted to maintain as much of the original spell. That last bit of magic is probably the last trace of October there is in this world. Or are you not as sentimental as I thought you were?”

Dwayne, Paul, and Marco each stilled from where they each stood apart. They felt how David was dangerously close to his breaking point. Their sire’s outward expression gave little away, however. He stood and approached the witch calmly until he towered over her and stopped. 

The witch merely stared up at him, curious about his response for all they could tell. 

**“Just fix the damn place before sunrise and get the hell out,”** he growled. 

_We’re leaving. Now._ He sent the thought to all of them as he pivoted and made for the cave entrance. 

“You’re welcome!” Jess called out sarcastically to their backs as they left the cave. “Assholes,” they heard her mutter to herself. 

+++

The vampires wasted no time once they hit the boardwalk. They were all on edge after hearing what the small witch said. October’s last bit of magic was fading. And because her very ashes had been scattered to the four winds, the resurrected hotel itself was the last piece of her they still had and clung to. Without the hotel, it was as though she had never existed in their lives at all. 

_If October’s magic is fading, then that means so is the glamour she placed on us,_ Dwayne pointed out to the others. 

_Which means anyone can recognize us now,_ Marko concluded. 

Paul snorted, eyeing a group of girls ahead loudly complaining about all the people who drove out to Santa Carla for the concert. “Who cares if anyone does. This is still our territory. Especially now that the Widow is dead.” 

Dwayne just shook his head disapprovingly at the rocker before redirecting his attention to a group of surf nazi’s starting to peel off from the large crowd gathering around the band stand on the beach. 

_Midnight snack, anyone?_ Marko thought cheekily. 

Their prey really made it too easy, isolating themselves far enough away from the crowds of the beach boardwalk where no one would accidentally happen upon the impending massacre. 

It was over practically before it began. But apparently, no one told David that. 

As the others finished their feeding frenzy scattered around the beginnings of a bonfire, their sire continued to tear into the remains of a long since dismembered body. At this point he wasn’t even feeding anymore. He wasn’t even playing with his food anymore. They watched mutely as David poured all of his grief and rage into tearing apart the bag of bones and blood that remained of a surf nazi’s corpse. 

With a heaving roar, David threw what remained of his butchery into the barely smoldering embers of the bonfire. 

The others shared varying looks of uncertainty until Dwayne mentally nudged Marko to do what he did best: coax David into complacency. 

The shortest blond swiped at his mouth as he gingerly approached his sire. David stood unmoving before the bonfire, gaze transfixed on the quickly growing flames. He didn’t react at all when Marko sidled up to him. 

“Boss?” Marko asked warily. Still, David did not acknowledge him. He didn’t dare take a peek inside the other’s head for fear of overstepping. Instead, he continued on as though he wasn’t totally retattled. “Why don’t you go check on the witch? We’ll clean up here.” 

At last, David turned his gaze away from the fire and looked to an anxious Marko. He brought a hand up and cupped the other’s face. Marko resisted the urge to squirm as David swiped a gloved thumb over his chin before letting go. 

“You missed a spot,” David told him with a smirk. 

Dwayne released a breath he didn’t know he was holding. 

“Yeah, good luck trying to save that coat by the way,” Paul laughed.

They all glanced down David’s blood soaked sleeves and shirt. 

“It’s black. No one will notice the stains, probably,” Marko said.

“Guess I’ll take the scenic route back,” David shrugged, already moving on. 

“I’ll bring your bike back before sun up,” Dwayne added helpfully, partially relieved at how the tense moment from before had been so easily resolved. 

After David left and they cleaned up around the bonfire, none of them mentioned a word about what just happened. 

+++

Dwayne knew something was wrong the moment they returned to the hotel. 

Though it wasn’t immediately obvious what was wrong, he could sense… _something_. 

On the one hand, the hotel was once again set in order which meant Jess had been successful in preserving her sister’s spell and was nowhere to be seen. 

“Huh. The hourglass is gone,” Paul mentioned offhandedly. 

Dwayne’s gaze snapped to the restored front desk and it’s empty surface. He swore under his breath and headed towards their rooms, Marko and Paul trailing after him. In one of those rooms, he could sense his sire who hopefully knew the whereabouts of the one thing that might help them to reunite with their soulmate. 

He was drawn to David’s closed bedroom door and barged in without knocking. Pausing just over the threshold, Marko and Paul crowding in the doorway behind him, they were met with a slightly unexpected sight. 

The room was lit by soft candle light and on the nightstand was the missing hourglass. From the parted bed curtains they could see a bare leg stretched out from under rumpled sheets. 

Overall, the room had an unanticipated air of...romance? 

“Uh, boss?” Paul wondered aloud, causing the figure on the bed to shift and then begin to sit up. 

A bare chested David greeted them, sheets pooled in his lap. Dwayne and the others ventured further into the room, confusion steadily mounting. They froze when the most self-satisfied grin curved the corners of David’s mouth up. It was strange for them to see such an expression that was usually reserved for potential prey aimed at them and they didn’t know what to make of it. 

“You’ll never believe what happened,” David began to tell them, unrestrained excitement in his voice. “I saw her. I don’t know how, but she’s back. She’s actually alive!” 

Eyes wide, Dwayne searched the room in a quick sweep, not daring to hope that he might actually see October of all people coming out of the bathroom or lounging on the couch. But the room was empty and the sense that something really was wrong only increased.


End file.
